Buckwheat Crepes

Looking for a very tasty Buckwheat Crepes Recipe, is inspired by using healthy buckwheat grains. Buckwheat groats is ground into a dark flour which  is gluten free and full of nutrients and antioxidants. If you look closely to many pancake mixes they often have some buckwheat flour added into the mixture. The Buckwheat Crepe recipe is 100% buckwheat flour, fresh eggs, unsalted butter, milk, water and salt. This Brittany French based crepe recipe is a very thin batter that needs to rest for 2 hours before making into crepes. By allowing the batter mixture to relax, the buckwheat flour has a chance to absorb all it’s moisture.

[caption id="attachment_2278" align="alignleft" width="300"] Buckwheat Crepe Batter's consistency after refrigerated.[/caption]

Choosing the right Buckwheat Flour

Go to the local grocery store and look in the health food isles, they have Organic Buckwheat Flour from Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods. This is a dark Buckwheat flour, but has good protein content, low in fats but does have good carbohydrates. This recipe uses 1 cup of Buckwheat flour which is 84g of carbohydrates and 16g of protein. If you was to use whole wheat pastry flour instead it has 92g of carbohydrates and 12g of protein. So you can see the benefits of using Buckwheat flour has less carbohydrates and more protein with added benefits of antioxidants. Also Buckwheat is considered to be an ancient grain which is considered to be a more healthy choice. That's why making Buckwheat Crepes taste so good.

Challenge making crepes

[caption id="attachment_2285" align="alignleft" width="300"] Flipping crepe over with spatula when crepe bottom is light brown color.[/caption]

Making the batter is easy but cooking buckwheat crepes without them breaking or cracking is challenging. The first few crepes might break as you adjust temperature of skillet, to right amount of heat. I found that if you try to turn crepes too early they crack or split while in turning process. Be patient and let them cook, they need to be light golden brown on cooking surface before flipping over with spatula.

Buckwheat doesn't have any gluten it produces a extremely tender crepe that breaks or cracks. Solution is to put 1 part white whole wheat flour with 2 parts buckwheat flour into the batter. The white whole wheat flour adds some gluten to hold crepes together. But the drawback is crepes are now not gluten free. Another solution is to add some xanthan gum into batter rather then wheat flour, to add extra elasticity to the crepe batter. But with each variable there is challenges, achieving the right viscosity of crepe batter is important. The crepe batter needs to spread a thin even layer of batter onto the skillet.

Filling Buckwheat Crepes with fresh fruit

Spring is here so the fresh berries are coming into season. You can use almost any fruits, like poached pear slices, strawberry slices, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry are all great choices. Keeping everything simple by holding fresh fruit together with whipped cream. Try Store Short Cuts by using Ready Whip Cream it has fewer calories then Cool Whip Topping. Layering fruits and whipped cream make it easy to roll.

To put the finishing touches after plating crepes drizzle some glaze over  Buckwheat Crepes Fresh Berries. I used a black raspberry vinegar and apple juice reduction into glaze. This complements Buckwheat Crepes with berries balancing sweet and sour profile. Adding some strawberry fans and few fresh berries for color to bring everything into prospective.

The Buckwheat Crepes Fresh Berries has around 350 calories not bad for enjoying refreshing dessert that is healthy.  Bon appétit

[nutrition-label]  [wpurp-searchable-recipe]Buckwheat Crepes Fresh Berries - Buckwheat crepes is a classic Brittany French Crepe that is healthy and very delicate in texture. Filled with fresh berries and whipped cream makes this wonderful light dessert or breakfast a feast. - Buckwheat Crepe Batter: buckwheat flour (Bob's Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour), Light Whole Wheat Bread, salt, freshly grated nutmeg, skim milk, unsalted butter (melted), eggs (beaten), canola oil (to spray skillet before cooking), water (to added to batter to achieve right consistency ), Berry Filling: fresh strawberry (washed and sliced thin), fresh raspberries (washed and place on paper towels), fresh blackberries (washed and place on paper towels), Ready Whipped Cream, Black Raspberry Glaze (to drizzle over finished crepes), Making Buckwheat Crepe batter: Gather all ingredients to make Buckwheat Crepes Batter. Measure all the ingredients properly.; Place the dry ingredients (Buckwheat flour, white whole wheat flour, salt and nutmeg) into mixing bowl.; Whisking dry ingredients together until combined.; Add the milk to dry ingredients and whisking until blended.; Next add one egg at a time into batter, whisking well after each additions of eggs.; Drizzling melted butter into crepe batter, then whisking until combined.; After final whisking the crepes batter should have this consistency from whisk.; Cover and refrigerate crepes batter for at least 2 hours to relax and develop flavors. After refrigeration the batter will become thicker as shown in photo.; Thin the Buckwheat Crepes batter with cold water, the consistency should be like pouring thick heavy cream.; Whisking batter adding more water as needed to achieve thin crepe batter.; The consistency of the batter should pour from whisk like light cream.; Making Buckwheat Crepes : Spray the non-stick skillet with oil using EVO sprayer or brush with oil. Heat skillet over medium high setting about 375°F.; Pour 2 tbsp of buckwheat crepe batter onto hot skillet, swirl batter until it covers the bottom of skillet. Note it should have light coating of batter. Adjust consistency of batter with water if too thick.; Flip the buckwheat crepes when the bottom of crepe is light brown color. Use a spatula carefully lifting crepes and turning them over to cook on other side.; Cook the buckwheat crepes on the other side for about 45 seconds to minute. Remove crepe from skillet carefully and place on plate to rest. Repeat making crepes until you have enough crepes.; If you have any remaining crepe batter pour into contain, label and date. Keep the extra batter for one week in the refrigerator.; Assemble Buckwheat Crepes Fresh Berries: Wash berries in cold water and place on paper towels to dry. Slice large berries. Note you can added extra sliced fruits like poached pears. ; Place the berries and fruits in center of each crepe. Note do not over till crepe with fruits because it makes it hard to roll up.; Spritz whipped cream over center of the berries. Note don't put too much whipped cream so able to roll crepe.; Roll filled crepes carefully up and place on dessert plates.; Drizzle black raspberry glaze or any berry glaze over crepes.; Garnish with extra whipped cream, fanned strawberries and other fresh berries in season. Enjoy.; - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]